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Southside Cinema

The chronicles

of narnia

Watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is like being told a terrific story by a so-so storyteller.

The best stuff comes at the beginning. C.S. Lewis’ fantasy classic begins in the real world: London, in the middle of the World War II blitz, where a riveting sequence shows a mother sending her four children to the country to escape Hitler’s bombs. These scenes are rightly scary, but they also give the kids more reason than most young people to be curious about the nature of evil, self-sacrifice and bravery.

In the country, the children discover a wardrobe that is a portal to Narnia, a world where a witch (spare, witty Tilda Swinton, sauntering around in depraved ballgowns) is trying to wrest control from the forces of good (the gorgeously computer-generated Lion, whose crucifixion turns him into a Christ figure). It’s significant that it is the youngest and most imaginative of the children — Lucy, who’s about nine — who happens upon the wardrobe, because imagination is exactly what the movie runs out of when it gets to Narnia, where it’s more about special effects than human nature.

Narnia is best when it seems most real, whether it’s in the blitz scenes or the enchantingly low-key way a few tree branches are used to suggest the kids passing through the wardrobe and into Narnia. There’s something magical about the simplicity of those branches, but there’s something very ordinary about Narnia, which has all the warmth and mystery of a screen-saver image of a Renaissance Fair (meanwhile, the queen’s ice palace has the chintzy look of a mall Santa’s lair).

The early scenes’ rich, period feel vanishes in Narnia, especially when we’re forced to spend time with a couple of bickering beavers who come on like a rodent version of King of Queens.

“Who cares? I’m not a production designer” may be your response to that sort of criticism, but the earthbound look of the movie dims its impact in the same way that accidentally painting your bedroom a yucky green can bring your mood down; it may even have contributed to the child actors’ difficulty in capturing the sense of wonder their Narnia scenes require.

There are moments that work — Jim Broadbent is perfect in an enchanting, but brief, performance as a sympathetic adult.

But this is a movie that should be about imagination and awe and, instead, it ends up being about computer pixels and those ridiculous wise-cracking rats.

Rated: PG

Fri: 10.30am, 2.30pm, 6.45pm, 9.30pm

Sat: 2.30pm, 6.45pm, 9.30pm

Sun: 2.30pm, 6.45pm, 9.30pm

Mon-Thurs: 6.45pm, 9.30pm

Southside Cinema, St. David’s 297-2821

Neptune Theatre

Derailed

Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston play successful executives who start an illicit affair that turns really, really bad. Fans of the if-you-cheat-you-burn-in-hell erotic thriller might want to add ‘Derailed’ to their lists, but put it way down there after ‘Dial M For Murder’, ‘Double Indemnity’, ‘Fatal Attraction’ and ‘Unfaithful’.

Rated: R

Mon-Thur: 7.30pm

Fri & Sat: 7.15pm, 9.30pm

Sun: 2.30pm, 7.30pm

Neptune Theatre, Dockyard 291-2035

Little Theatre

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The fourth instalment of the Potter series includes the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, Competitors are selected by the goblet of fire, which this year makes a surprising announcement: Hogwarts will have two representatives, including Harry Potter. Will Harry be able to rise to the challenge?

Rated: PG 13

Fri-Tues: 2.30pm, 6pm, 9.30pm

king kong

See review in the Bermuda Sun’s Friday edition, page 26.

Rated: PG 13

Wed-Thur: 1.30pm, 5.30pm, 9.30pm

Next showing: Fun with Dick and Jane, PG 13

Little Theatre, Queen Street 292-2135

Liberty Theatre

aeon flux

Starring Marton Csokas and Charlize Theron, Aeon Flux is set 400 years in the future in a world where humans have nearly been wiped out by a virus, with the remains of mankind living in a city encased in a protective bubble. The title character, an acrobatic superheroine, is assigned to kill the government leader.

Fri: 2.30pm, 7pm, 9.30pm

Sat: 2.30pm, 7pm, 9.30pm

Sun: 2.30pm, 7pm

Mon-Thurs: 2.30pm, 7pm, 9.30pm

Liberty Theatre, Union Square, 292-7296[[In-content Ad]]

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